Written By: Emma Websdale

China’s first wind-powered desalination plant will begin operating this December, providing 10,000 tons (2.5 million gallons) daily of fresh drinking water to the coastal city of Dafeng.

The new plant, to be powered by a 2.5-megawatt (MW) wind turbine, will use 40,000 kilowatt-hours (KWh) of electricity per day to remove salt from seawater and make drinking water.

As part of an ambitious program announced in February to quadruple the production of desalted water by 2020, China’s first wind-powered desalination plant will produce 10,000 tons of fresh drinking water to a region 300 km north of Shanghai.

The plant is expected to provide bottled water and will also supply water to nearby industrial complexes along Dafeng’s port.

With insufficient fresh water in 400 of its 668 cities, China already supplies 180 million gallons of desalinated water daily from 60 conventional plants. China aims to increase its water output to 800 million gallons by constructing 12 additional plants.

Another large producer of desalinated water is Saudi Arabia, which, according to the World Bank, produces at least 17% of total world output. Through an investment of $11 billion, Saudi Arabia plans to convert all its desalination plants to solar power by 2020, making the technology fossil fuel-free.